


Fuyu no Hana - Winter Flower

by unelmoida



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Bittersweet, Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Torture, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Multi, Psychological Torture, Romance, Torture, Tragedy, Violence, Will add tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:13:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25036807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unelmoida/pseuds/unelmoida
Summary: The war of the wars is over, both Zeref and Acnologia are gone and things are finally peaceful again for the members of Fairy Tail and their friends from other guilds. Natsu & Co are in for a much needed break at a small Onsen Town - when things change. The sudden appearance of an unknown girl turns their lives upside down, and taints their hopes for a happy future with blood.Or: I thought there wasn't enough blood in FT so I added some. And some more.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Yukino Aguria/Sting Eucliffe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello.
> 
> I already posted the first chapter to this a few weeks ago, but then took it down because I had to rewrite some stuff. I originally started writing this after I finished watching the Grand Magic Games Arc, but I've since finished watching the series.  
> So this story begins 6 weeks after anime ends & before Natsu & Co leave for the 100 Years quest. 
> 
> Disclaimer:
> 
> 1\. I do not own FT, I only own my OCs and this idea.  
> 2\. English is not my native language (German is) but I'm trying my best.  
> 3\. I originally thought this story isn't super dark, but it is.  
> 4\. Also trigger warning for blood. And lots of blood

“I could stay in here forever..” Lucy sighed, leaning back into the warmth of the water as she closed her eyes and smiled. After the long and exhausting fight with Zeref and Acnologia ended, she spent a lot of time working on different missions with Natsu and Happy. It turned out that even though they practically saved the world, she still had bills and her rent to pay. And even though it wasn’t their fault, they had to spend a lot of money on rebuilding the guild building.

Now, 6 weeks later, they were finally allowed to take a break. And so the strongest team of Fairy Tail (and some more) was spending 2 days and 3 nights at a small Onsen Hot Spring Hotel in the small Onsen town called Libemiata. And the hot water did a fantastic job relaxing all the tension in her muscles.

“Ah... This is nice..” Lucy felt like she could fall asleep any second.

“It sure is..” Said the voice of a man, way too close to her, considering she was wearing nothing but a towel. She opened her eyes, only to stare right into Loki’s, who was right next to her in the water.

“Kyaaah!” She shrieked. “This is a woman only hot spring! Lucyyyy kick!”

And with that, she sent him flying out of the Onsen.

“I wonder if I can cook fish in this-” Happy added, only to be literally kicked out as well.

“Jeez, I can’t even relax here..” Lucy groaned as she got up to get out of the water.

“You’re too harsh, Lucy, we’re here to relax, too.” Gray added. She hadn’t even noticed him until he spoke up, but he had been sitting to her left all long - completely naked.

“At least wear a towel!” Lucy yelled. “Why am I even here? I want to go home already.”

It had been such a long time since Lucy had been able to close her eyes, relax, and just be... At ease. No worries, no fearing for her life or the lives of her friends.

But she was freezing. It was winter, and it had snowed for the past week... And she was wearing nothing but a Yukata and sandals. Well, her room was only a 2-minute walk from the hot spring, so she should be fine and get back into the warmth before she could catch a cold - or so she thought. Because after walking around for 15 minutes she still couldn’t find the way back to the hotel they were staying in.

“Luuuuucyyyy!”

She could see Natsu from afar and lifted her arms, waving at him.

“Natsu! I’m here!”

Natsu ran over to her. “What are you doing so far away from our Hotel?”

Lucy sighed. “I got lost on my way back from the hot spring. What are you doing here?”

Natsu shrugged. “I smelled something weird, so I’m on my way to check it out. Wanna tag along?”

“I would but I’m freezing.” Lucy pointed to her clothes.

“Ah, too bad, well then-” Natsu replied, turned around and was about to leave.

“Wait! I said I’m lost! Can’t you tell me where the hotel is?”

“I need to check out the smell first.” He answered and went on to walk away.

In the end Lucy followed him, complaining and sighing along the way.

* * *

“Can’t we go back? I’m freezing” Lucy complained. If she knew how to get back to the Hotel, she would turn around and leave, but since she didn’t she focused on following Natsu’s footprints in the snow. “Jeez, wait for me!” Natsu’s steps went faster and faster. “What are we even looking for?”

“Can you just be quiet for a moment? I smelled something weird.” Natsu answered, sounding a lot more serious than she expected.

“..since when do you need silence to smell something..” She mumbled.

As they went on, they left the small Onsen town they were staying in and slowly but surely made their way into the forest that surrounded it. If she wasn’t so cold, Lucy would have found the little forest beautiful. The trees were heavy with snow; the ground was all white and the only footsteps that disrupted the view were their own. It looked like a winter wonderland.

“Natsu... Seriously, just tell me where the hotel is and I’ll go back by myself, I’m freezing to death here.”

“We must be close, the smell is getting stronger.” Natsu said, completely ignoring her.

“What kind of smell is it, anyway?”

Natsu stopped walking and turned around to face Lucy. “Blood.”

Lucy froze and stared at him, wide-eyed. “Blood?”

Natsu started walking again, without giving her an answer.

“Why would we follow the smell of blood? Did something happen? Maybe it’s just an animal? This is a forest, after all.”

Lucy tried to make out why Natsu was so serious and focused on this. He must have smelled a lot of blood during their adventures, but he had never acted like this before.

Natsu suddenly stopped walking, causing Lucy to bump into him.

“Not just blood, Lucy, my blood. It smells like my blood.”

“Yours?” Now Lucy was even more confused. “Did you fight again?”

“No, Lucy, that’s the point. I’m fine. But I smelled my blood all the way from our Hotel. The smell was so strong that it made me walk here. I wanted to run here but then I ran into you.”

Lucy didn’t fully understand how strong a dragon slayer’s nose was, so she didn’t know if it was normal for him to smell something that was so far away from him or not. It probably wasn’t, considering how he was acting.

Raising his arm, he pointed to his right. “It should be down there somewhere.”

He was pointing down the forest slope.

“How are we supposed to get down there?” Lucy asked.

“We jump, of course!”

Without further explanations, Natsu grabbed Lucy’s arm and jumped, pulling her along with him.

Lucy squealed, and somewhere along the way, Natsu slipped on the slope, causing them to roll down the rest of the way.

They landed face down straight into the snow.

When Lucy opened her eyes, groaning as she slowly got up unto her knees, she realized what Natsu was talking about. What he smelled.

There was blood. A lot of blood. It tainted the snow and turned it bright red, and in the center of the crimson snow was the body of a girl. Her hair, put into two braids was a light shade of rose and her skin was as white as the snow she was lying in, so Lucy thought for sure that she was already dead. The white dress she was wearing was full of blood.

Turning her head to face Natsu, she opened her mouth to speak but closed it when she saw Natsu’s expression. He looked completely shocked, eyes wide, mouth open, hands shaking.

Did he know her?

Just when Lucy was about to find her voice, the girl suddenly stirred and sat up. She turned her head, looked around as if to see where she was, and then faced Natsu and Lucy.

Her expression when she saw Natsu equaled his. Her eyes widened just as much, if not more.

“..Natsu..?” She asked, her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

A single bloody tear fell from her left eye, sliding down her cheek.

Her expression suddenly softened and it looked like she was about to smile - and then she fell back into the snow, losing consciousness.

Natsu seemingly mirrored her, because he as well collapsed and fell back into the snow.

Lucy caught him before his face could hit the snow, carefully turned him around and stared at him.

What just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, this is roughly what my OC looks like:  
> https://imgur.com/DARqdsw
> 
> Also please let me know what you think of this so far.  
> See you soon ♥


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! ~
> 
> The usual disclaimer:
> 
> 1\. I do not own FT, I only own my OCs and this idea.  
> 2\. English is not my native language, please bear with me.  
> 3\. Trigger warning for blood.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she quickly closed them again as the bright light from the window blinded her. Window..? Wasn’t she still in the forest? Where did the snow go? Why wasn’t she cold anymore? What had happened? Slowly she opened her eyes again and found herself staring at the wooden ceiling of a house. She definitely wasn’t outside anymore. Her mind was all fogged up, and it felt like she couldn’t think straight. Her memories seemed to be all over the place, too. What had she been doing again?

Right.. she had been in the forest.. and she fought _him_.. but she lost. She had also lost a lot of blood again. But why did she fight again? What had happened right before she passed out, as usual? 

She slowly sat up and took her surroundings in. She was tucked up in a bed and her injuries had been taken care of. She had been changed out of her white dress and was now wearing a white robe. There were several other beds in the room, but they were all empty. She guessed she was in a hospital, or maybe some sort of infirmary. But who brought her here? She was sure no one could have found her deep in the forest.. or did someone? Did someone find her and bring her here? Did someone save her?

Suddenly there was a commotion outside of the room, and she heard loud voices arguing. 

“Natsu! You can’t just barge in! She’s probably still unconscious!” The voice of a girl said. The young girls eyes widened. 

“Oh, hell I can! If someone smells like that, then I have every right to ask her about it!” The voice of a young man replied, yelling. 

“Just let her recover, she was badly hurt!” The girl tried to reason with him, but it sounded like he was going to kick down the door any second, anyway.

“I should probably leave..” the girl in the bed whispered to herself. Getting up, she made the bed and cleaned up after herself. Then she slowly walked towards the window. “I don’t belong here..” She turned her head to face the door one more time, before she slowly opened the window and jumped outside.

She landed on the ground softly, as if she was weightless. 

A slight smile formed on her lips, and she chuckled to herself.

“You healed me again, right? Porlyusica..” 

And with that she disappeared into the woods again.

* * *

Porlyusica had arrived and shushed Natsu and Lucy from the door. She was already angry enough with them for disturbing her during her short vacation, but it annoyed her endlessly that she also had to work. She had been relaxing in her hotel room, when a panicked Lucy announced that Natsu had fainted and that they found a badly injured young girl in the forest. They brought her to the local hospital and had her heal both Natsu and the unknown girl, even though she was on her much needed break!

Unbelievable! 

The worst part was that she recognized the young girl. She didn’t know her full name, but she had run into her a couple of times in the past years. And every single time the girl was practically drained of blood and severely injured. At first she had thought the girl had been abused, tortured even. But that didn’t seem to be the case. Who the girl was remained a mystery to her, and now that she was here again, she thought she could ask her about who she was. It also bothered her that she had an odd resemblance to Natsu, given her rose-colored hair and dark eyes. 

As she slid the door to the infirmary ward open, Porlyusica immediately realized the girl was missing. She couldn’t even tell which bed she had been lying in. The room seemed as if no patient had ever stayed in there. Only the fact that one of the windows was open and let a small breeze of wind in gave away that someone must have been there.

“She’s gone.” Porlyusica announced, which stopped Natsu and Lucy in the middle of their quarrels about whether he should go in and see the girl or not.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” Lucy asked, confused. “Isn’t she still sleeping? She’s still injured, isn’t she?”

Natsu pushed Lucy to the side and ran into the room, and then straight to the opened window, and looked down. 

“I can see her footprints!” He said, already making his way back to the door, ready to run outside.

“What are you doing, Natsu?” Lucy asked.

“I’m going after her, of course!” Natsu declared. And with that, he ran outside to follow the mysterious girl.

Porlyusica sighed. “She’s always like that. Gets treated just enough to walk around again and then leaves and disappears.”

Lucy turned around to face Porlyusica. “Do you know her?”

Porlyusica shook her head. “You could say I’ve met her before. A few times. But do I know who she is? No.”

Porlyusica sat down, suddenly tired. She really needed her vacation. Hopefully, the Fairy Tails would leave her alone now. Lucy realized that she wasn’t going to get a deeper and longer explanation, so she did what she always did. She thanked Porlyusica for healing Natsu and the unknown girl, turned around and left to go and find Natsu.

* * *

The unknown girl didn’t make it very far before exhaustion hit her. After only a few hundred metres into the forest the ache found its way back into her body. She knew she needed a lot more rest to regenerate the blood she had lost. But she couldn’t afford to meet him. Not yet. She wasn’t ready to face him, and she certainly wasn’t ready to face herself. Leaving was the only right thing to do. She didn’t belong here. Or anywhere for that matter. She had been wandering around for several years now, going after the mission she had taken on. Now she just had to find the place where she last fought. Her bag and belongings should still be there, somewhere hidden in the deep snow. Realizing that she probably should have worn warmer clothes, shivers took over her thin body, and she wrapped her arms around herself in a sad attempt to get some warmth beg. Blood loss plus the cold wasn’t a good mix. 

She was so exhausted that she didn’t even hear the footsteps following closely behind her. She didn’t notice she wasn’t alone until she suddenly slipped in the snow, bare feet that had lost all feeling losing grip. Closing her eyes tightly, she got ready for the impact. But before she could hit the ground warm arms suddenly grabbed her and held her steady. Arms so warm, that she almost leaned into them instinctively. 

Slowly she opened her eyes and found another pair of eyes looking right back at hers. She blinked, then sighed.

“Natsu…” She whispered. 

“How do you know my name?” He wanted to know.

“I…” She thought hard to make up a lie. “I heard you talking at the infirmary. The girl mentioned your name.”

Natsu shook his head, not believing her. “You already knew my name. Back when we found you, remember?”

The girl shook her eyed and closed her eyes again. She made a sad attempt to stand by herself, only to faint back into his arms.

“You’re still weak. You should rest more.” Natsu said. “I’m taking you back.”

“No!” She replied, too loud. The sound of her own voice made her flinch. “I’m fine, really. I’m used to this.”

“Really?” And with that Natsu let go of her, causing her knees to buckle and she ended up falling into the cold snow. Natsu sighed. “See, that’s what I thought.”

He held out his right hand, waiting for her to grab it so that he could pull her back up, but she didn’t move.

“Jeez. I just wanted to ask you about the smell of your blood.” Natsu explained. “But now I doubt you’d even tell me.”

The girl just shook her head in silence.

“Just leave me be. I’ll be fine.” She mumbled, and then added “Please.”

Natsu scratched the back of his head. “The old granny also told me to leave you alone.”

The girl smiled softly. “You should listen to her then.”

Natsu shook his head. “Nah. I never listen to anyone once I make up my mind about something.” 

And with that he grabbed the girl and lifted her up bridal style.

She didn’t fight him as he made his way back to the little Hot Spring town. 

“What’s your name anyway?” Natsu suddenly asked.

The girl looked at him and thought hard. Her first name… that much she could probably tell him. She turned her gaze away and sighed. “Hana”.

“So Hana it is?” Natsu smiled brightly. “That’s a good name!”

“I’ll leave first thing tomorrow..” She told herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. our OC has a name now! Yay!  
> Welcome Hana!
> 
> Also who wouldn't like to collapse into Natsu's warm arms.. but don't worry, I'm 100% NaLu and I don't plan to tear apart any canon relationships either. 
> 
> In the beginning of my story Hana is distanced & doesn't really want to get close to anyone. Eventually she'll warm up to the rest, whether that's a good thing or not... we'll find out I guess?
> 
> Does anyone have an idea who Hana is? Why did she and Natsu pass out in the first chapter? I'd love to hear theories (but it's not simple, trust me, I spent a long time developing her backstory).
> 
> I'm always open to suggestions so if anyone has anything they want to see happen in this - let me know.  
> Also let me know if you liked or hated this.
> 
> Thanks for reading. ♥


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer hiiii!
> 
> 1\. I do not own FT, only my OCs and this idea.  
> 2\. English is not my native language. I'm sorry of things sound weird.  
> 3\. Trigger warning for blood.
> 
> And... about the POV: I'm kinda switching as I go, but I plan to eventually write everything from Hana's POV. But right now I can't because she's not in every scene and not always conscious.

Opening her eyes, Hana took her surroundings in once more. The singing of the birds outside woke her up, and she realized she had fallen asleep. When Natsu brought her back to the infirmary, Porlyusica looked after her wounds, and the small girl called Wendy used some of her healing magic on her to calm her down and help her go to sleep. It was already morning now… and time to leave before Natsu could get back and ask his questions.

She sat up with a sigh. It seemed like most of her blood had regenerated, so she should be fine to leave now… without fainting on someone again. She hated when that happened. 

There were clean clothes placed on the chair next to her bed. It looked like someone put them there for her to wear. Hana considered putting them on for a brief moment, but then realized that she would probably feel the need to return them later on. She didn’t want to return, as she didn’t belong here, so using the clothes would be impossible. 

Wearing nothing but a hospital gown Hana got up and walked towards the window. She was going to look for her belongings in the forest again. She still had some money left, enough to buy some proper clothes for herself. So she should be fine.

Lucy was carrying a plate with a small breakfast up the stairs to the hotels infirmary. She figured the girl would be hungry, as she had eaten nothing at all since they found her bleeding in the forest. She knocked on the door and then opened it as she didn’t get an answer. She almost expected the unknown girl to be gone, but she was still there, although barely. She had opened the window and was ready to jump out.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked, causing the other to flinch and turn around. “Your name is Hana, right? Natsu told me. Are you leaving?”

Hana stared at Lucy for a moment, before nodding slowly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want Natsu to drag you back here. But you needed more rest. You’re free to leave now.” Lucy said with a smile. 

“I don’t mean to be rude.” Hana spoke quietly. “I’m thankful that I was healed and my wounds were taken care of. But I don’t belong here… so I should leave.”

“You can walk through the door though. No need to jump down.” Lucy laughed. 

Hana nodded slowly. She was thankful that the girl named Lucy didn’t ask any questions, even though she could tell by the way she looked at her that she had plenty in mind. 

“You should probably get dressed though.” Lucy pointed at the clothes that were still on the chair next to the bed.

Hana shook her head, but Lucy walked towards the clothes, picked them up and handed them to her. “Please take them, it’s okay.”

Realizing that they probably wouldn’t let her leave unless she was wearing proper clothes, Hana gave in and changed out of her gown into the clothes she was given. It was a black skirt and a white blouse. The clothes were too loose on here, but it was alright. 

Lucy suddenly clapped her hands, causing Hana to flinch again.

“You still need shoes! Wait a second!” And with that she turned around and left.

A few moments later she returned with a pair of simple black sneakers.

“It’s nothing fancy, but they should be comfortable.” Lucy handed them to Hana and smiled.

Hana took them, put them on and bowed. 

“Thank you so much for everything. I’m sorry for causing so much trouble for all of you. I’ll be leaving now..” 

“No no, it’s fine, really!” Lucy lifted both of her hands. “We’re a guild and it’s our job to help people in need.”

Hana left the hotel through the door and didn’t turn around again. She didn’t notice, but at one of the windows stood Lucy, waving her goodbye. 

Hana went straight for the forest, her left hand resting on her growling stomach.

“I should have eaten breakfast before leaving.” She sighed to herself.

“Yeah, you should have.” A voice behind her said.

Hana flinched and turned around, but not fast enough, because next thing she was sent flying through the woods by a harsh kick to her side. Before she could catch herself, another kick sent her flying into a particularly thick tree with her back. 

Coughing, Hana tried to catch her breath, but it felt like the air was being pulled out of her lungs from the impact. She squinted and looked up into the face of the man who had attacked her. He was dressed in black, his hair was a dark shade of blue and long enough to go past his hips. Hana knew him. 

“Caym…” Hana said, holding onto the tree behind her for support as she slowly moved to her feet. 

“Did you forget about your mission?” The man named Caym asked. 

“I didn’t.” Hana shook her head. “But someone got in the way.”

“And you passed out again I suppose? You’re useless after all.” Caym pulled out a knife, grabbed Hana by her hair and pushed the blade against her neck. 

Hana tried pulling his hand out of her hair, but he wouldn’t let go.

“I can finish my mission.” She grunted. “I can do this.”

The man laughed but there was no humor in it. “You’re just like your mother.”

Hana flinched at that, but didn’t reply. 

“I can’t believe she died protecting something like you.” He pressed the blade deeper into her neck, drawing small droplets of blood.

“Lets see what this blood of you can do.” He smiled. And with that he slit her throat, causing blood to gush out, tainting her new clothes, his clothes, and the snow beneath their feet.

Caym turned around to leave, still laughing to himself.

Hana dropped to her knees, hands shaking, eyes wide, as she felt her life gushing out of her with each second. And then… a lot of things happened at the same time. It was nothing but a blur. Hana formed two daggers out of her blood and with a powerful jump went after her attacker, successfully catching him off guard. He turned around, quickly defending himself against her attack with his knife. 

Hana was getting weaker as she lost more blood, but at the same time her blood became her strength. Her weapon. Hana was a blood mage, and her magic allowed her to solidify her blood into almost any weapon, while also giving her more strength the more blood she lost. But her magic also came with a twist. It made her anemic, and she was also always at danger of overdoing it and losing too much blood, which could eventually kill her one day. She also often lost control over her emotions while fighting with too much blood loss. Which got her into dangerous situations every now and then.

Hana lost track of their fight, and blinked when she suddenly found herself on top of her assailant, this time with her dagger pressed into his throat. To her surprise Caym smiled at her.

“I win.” He said, grinning.

Hana stared at him. She could take his life right now, so why did he say he won?

“Help! Help, I need help!” He suddenly yelled, and suddenly she could sense several people getting closer to them. 

“What kind of mission is this anyway?” An all to familiar voice asked. “I’m going to be attacked, find me in the forest?”

“The reward said we could eat as much fish as we want!”

“I don’t care about the reward, Happy! Why did you drag me along anyway? Ne, Natsu? Natsu?”

Hana froze and got up, staring at the group of people who had just entered the scene. Lucy, the blue cat and… Natsu.

Hana turned back around to Caym, but he was gone. She dropped the blood daggers, which turned back into liquid blood as they hit the snow and took a few shaky steps back. 

“What in the world happened here?” Lucy asked, eyes wide, as she covered her mouth with both of her hands. She had never seen so much blood before. As they arrived, the young girl named Hana seemed to be attacking a strange guy. But now that the guy had disappeared, it seemed like the one who got attacked was Hana and not him. Did he send out the quest? Why?

Natsu stood there, frozen, as he continued to stare at the bleeding girl.

Hana looked down and realized she was completely covered in her own blood. Somewhere along the way the gash on her throat hat stopped bleeding as much, although she was sure her injury was much worse before. 

Tears fell from her eyes as Hana realized the situation. Caym.. his goal was to make sure she wasn’t trusted here. That she could leave and move on to work on her mission. He wanted her to be seen as an enemy, someone bad. Maybe she should be thankful. He used to be her partner after all.

And with that the blood loss took over, and Hana fell into the snow as she lost consciousness. 

* * *

The train ride back to Magnolia was quiet except for the occasional whimpering and retching of Natsu whose motion sickness had taken over as usual. No one was saying a word, and everyone's eyes rested on the form of the unknown young girl, who was lying on two seats, still sleeping off her injuries and blood loss. 

Lucy didn’t believe that the girl was a bad person. She never had a full conversation with her, but even from the few words they had exchanged she didn’t seem like an enemy. Yes, when they found her she was on top of a stranger, attacking him while he didn’t seem to be fighting back. But given her condition.. and the wound on her throat.. Lucy was sure that the girl had been attacked first, and that she only defended herself. 

Almost the entire guild was on the train back to Magnolia. Only Erza, Wendy and Carla stayed behind, as they had taken on a new mission. Everyone else was returning home.

They arrived in Magnolia, but the unknown girl still didn’t move. She was still fast asleep. Lucy couldn’t blame her, she had lost a lot of blood, and she had only just recovered from another blood loss the day before. 

Lucy declared that the girl could stay with her for the time being. At least until she woke up and recovered from her injuries completely. 

Natsu was in no condition to carry the girl out of the train. So in the end Gray carried her on his back to Lucy’s apartment. Lucy followed along, and Juvia, who kept muttering “Love rival..” along the way, with a scary look on her face. 

“Are you sure we can leave her with you? She might be dangerous.” Gray frowned as he looked down on the girl who was now sleeping on Lucy’s bed.

“She won’t hurt me.” Lucy said and smiled at him.

“Two love rivals in the same room with Juvia and Gray..” Juvia mumbled. 

“Well if anything happens you can just scream” Gray said as he was leaving, Juvia closely following him.

“As if you could hear that” Lucy said.

“I can’t, but Natsu will.” Gray replied, waving goodbye and leaving for good.

Lucy sighed and sat down on the floor next to her bed.

Natsu… how did he and the girl named Hana know each other? Why did her blood smell like him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Hana is a blood mage. And I want to explain a bit more about how it works. Blood magic is a type of molding magic, very much like Gray's "Ice Make" magic. But while he can create ice anywhere no matter if there's already ice or not, Hana can't. She needs blood for her magic to work, and right now she can only use her own blood. There are a lot of rules about this type of magic, since it's also considered "forbidden". One of these rules, for example, is: She can't injure herself to activate her magic. So she can't just cut herself and then mold a weapon. She has to be hurt by someone else, whether that's an enemy or not.
> 
> When she's bleeding, she can mold her blood into almost any kind of weapon. There's limits to what kind of weapons she can create, but that will be explained later on.
> 
> ANYWAY: Thank you so much for reading, and thank you to the people who left kudos on my story! ♥


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer
> 
> 1\. I do not own FT, only my OCs and this idea.  
> 2\. English is not my native language, please bear with me.  
> 3\. TW for blood as usual.

Her eyes fluttered open… and then widened as she took her new surroundings in. Hana sat up abruptly, staring at the blonde figure who was sleeping on the floor next to the bed she was lying in. What happened? Right.. the fight with Caym.. and then…

“Natsu…” She whispered, remembering that Natsu had seen her like that, bleeding, and using her own blood as a weapon to fight someone. He of all people shouldn’t have seen her like that. 

“So you _do_ know him.” Lucy was awake now, sat up and looked Hana in the eyes. 

Hana froze and then looked away. 

“You don’t have to tell me. Just rest, okay?” Lucy smiled at her warmly.

Hana didn’t understand. How could she still smile at her, even after seeing what kind of monster she was? A blood mage was nothing to be proud of. It scared off most people and was the reason why she kept her distance from others as she took on missions.

“I need to go..” Hana said and got up.

“Do you really have to? You’re still injured and could use more rest.” Lucy seemed worried.

“I’m on a mission… I have to go…” Just as Hana took two steps, her legs suddenly gave in and she crashed to the ground, landing right next to where Lucy was sitting.

“See, you’re in no shape to leave.” Lucy suddenly took Hana’s hand, causing her to flinch. “I don’t know what kind of mission you’re on, but shouldn’t taking a break to heal from your injuries be okay?” 

Lucy had seen Hana’s body when Porlyusica and Wendy took care of her wounds. There was no guild mark on her body, so she was sure she wasn’t part of any guild. But then again she could have hidden her guild mark with magic to hide it and make it seem like she was alone and in need of help…

But Lucy usually had a good sense of people and most of the time she was right when she considered someone a friend. 

When she didn’t get a reply she sighed.

“You also look like you could use a friend.” Lucy added. The girl looked like she wasn’t used to human contact at all, which made Lucy think that maybe she didn’t have any friends or family. Her body was well taken care of, her nails were trimmed and clean, her teeth were white, and her hair was soft with no dead ends. But Lucy was aware of how the girl flinched whenever she was touched, which meant she probably wasn’t used to it.

“A friend?” Hana asked, shifting her head a bit to the side as she looked at Lucy curiously. She didn’t need friends. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was on a very important mission and she had no need for useless human interactions. If they would just let her leave… 

Hana didn’t notice yet, but Lucy was slowly working on breaking the walls that surrounded her heart. The walls she worked so hard to built up.

“I’m part of a guild, you know?” Lucy said with a smile. She lifted her right hand to show off her guild mark. Her other hand was still holding onto Hana’s. “It’s called Fairy Tail, and we’re basically one big family. We go on missions, alone or with our teams. And we take care of each other. We’re always there for each other and we’ve gone through a lot together. In Fairy Tail, you’re never alone.” 

Hana didn’t reply, instead she lowered her head to stare at her own hand that was still being held. 

“Are you part of a guild, too?” Lucy asked.

Hana quietly shook her head.

“Then you're alone?” Lucy asked again. Her intention was to get the other girl to talk. Natsu and the others had asked Lucy to try to get some information out of the strange girl. 

Hana sighed.. or simply breathed loudly. Lucy couldn’t tell.

“I don’t have friends, if that’s what you mean.”

“So you’re not part of any guild, and you don’t have any friends, but you’re on a mission right now, did I get that right?”

“Am I being questioned now?” Hana pulled her hand away and moved to get up. Lucy didn’t want to offend her, and she was also wary of the other since she saw her fighting someone covered in blood.

“I just want to help you.” Lucy said. Then she shook her head. “No, let me be honest with you. I want to know more about you. Our first encounter was… strange. With both you and Natsu fainting. And you seem to know Natsu, while he doesn’t seem to know you. Natsu is my friend, so of course I’m curious. And worried.” She explained.

Hana lifted her hand to touch the bandage on her throat. 

“Is it that you don’t _want_ to tell me anything, or is it that you _can’t_?” Lucy tried again. If she other really didn’t want to talk at all, and only wanted to leave, then maybe it would be better to just let her go. 

To her surprise, she saw a tear running down Hana’s cheek. Hana avoided eye contact as she replied.

“I can’t. I’m sorry.”

* * *

“So you just let her go?!” 

“She wanted to leave, and she didn’t tell me anything anyway.” Lucy sighed. She just got back from the grocery store to pick up some food for the weekend and found Natsu waiting for her in her apartment. He was annoyed to find out that the girl named Hana had left the night before, and that Lucy didn’t manage to get any information out of here.

“So was _she_ attacked or was she the _attacker_?” 

“I don’t know that either, Natsu.” Lucy thought for a moment. “No, actually, I think it was her who was attacked.”

“What makes you say that?” Natsu wanted to know.

“I don’t know. Call it women’s intuition?”

“Hey Natsu, Lucy is a woman?”

“Of course I am!!” Lucy yelled angrily and threw one of the apples in her basket at Happy, who caught it instead of getting hit by it.

“Natsu, I don’t like this present. It’s not a fish.”

“It’s not a present!!” Lucy threw another apple at Happy, this time missing him.

“Great, now I lost two apples.” Lucy sighed.

“Then why did you throw them at Happy?” Natsu asked, then quickly moved out of the way before Lucy could kick him.

* * *

**The night before.**

“Hana, can I ask one thing of you?”

They were outside of Lucy’s apartment, and Lucy had managed to give Hana small basket of food, so she wouldn’t starve on her journey.

Hana froze in her movement and turned around, looking at Lucy for what she hoped was the last time.

“If you ever need help, if you ever need a friend, please don’t hesitate to come back. You can always ask for help. Don’t lose so much blood again.”

When Hana didn’t reply, Lucy sighed and grabbed her wrist.

“Please promise me you’ll ask for help when you need it.”

“Why do you even care?”

“Promise me.”

Hana sighed and shook her head. “I promise.”

Lucy let go of her and Hana left without uttering another word.

* * *

3 months had passed since their encounter with the strange girl named Hana. Things went their usual way and life was peaceful again in Magnolia. Everyone went on missions to earn money, and on one Monday Morning, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Erza, Wendy, Carla and Wendy were on a mission together in the outskirts of Crocus. 

“What’s our mission again?” Natsu asked, arms crossed behind his head as he walked casually in front of the others, as if he knew where he was going. When he did not.

“I can’t believe you forgot already.” Lucy sighed.

“That’s Natsu for you!” Happy added. 

“There were 6 missing person cases in the last 2 weeks here. All of them were young girls between the ages of 16 and 20. Our objective is to find them and catch whoever is behind it.” Erza explained. 

“Then why does it need so many of us to take on this job?” Lucy wondered. Kidnapping cases weren’t uncommon, and it usually took only 2 or 3 members of a guild to finish the job. Often the kidnapper was just a creep. Dangerous to normal people, but wizards shouldn’t have a big problem freeing victims. 

“Well, it’s an A rank mission.” Erza explained, which made Lucy stop in her tracks, causing Gray, who was walking behind her, to run into her. 

“Love rival…” Juvia grumbled, as she couldn’t believe her dear Gray-Sama would give someone else a back hug. 

“What do you mean, an A rank mission? Natsu said it was an easy job that pays well.”

Natsu laughed. “Oh well, I forgot about that. But it’s an easy job for us anyway, right? Since we’re together.” He gave Lucy a thumbs up, who blushed slightly in response. 

“This is the neighborhood, right?” They stopped and took in the scenery before them. Mercurius was visible in the distance, towering over the big city. The streets in this particular neighborhood were busy. Only few buildings seemed to be purely residential, the rest of the buildings were shops. It seemed to be a shopping district. People of all ages were walking the streets with their families and friends. Although it was so busy and full of life, it also seemed peaceful. It didn’t seem that multiple disappearances would have happened in this part of the town at all. But maybe because of the constant buzz of people.. it was that much easier to make someone vanish into thin air. 

“So where do we start?” Lucy wondered.

“Maybe we should split and ask around.” Gray suggested. 

“Alright, let’s do that.” Erza said. 

“Juvia is going with Gray-Sama!” Juvia said straight away, grabbing Gray and pulling him with her. Lucy wondered if they would actually be able to focus on the task. The two of them had gotten a lot closer in the past months. Close enough to call them a couple, maybe. Although they didn’t make it official yet. 

“I’m going with Wendy and Carla.” Erza said, and the three of them took off. Lucy could see them enter the nearest cake shop and sweat dropped. Was anyone taking this job even seriously? This was an A rank mission after all. 

“Say, where do we start?” Lucy asked, turning around to Natsu, only to realize that he was in fact - no longer next to her. Natsu and Happy and run off on their own, leaving Lucy by herself.

Annoyed, she started walking in a direction.

“They really should have waited for me.” Lucy pouted. “It’s not comforting to be on my own… knowing girls my age have been disappearing here. Well, but I’m a wizard. I’ll be fine!”

And with that, she continued asking her way through the different shops, if anyone had heard about the disappearances, if anyone had seen anything. 

Lucy didn’t notice the dark figure following her at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading & leaving kudos on my story!
> 
> My posting might change into a weekly thing from now on. I go back to work starting tomorrow so I'll have less time to write. I'm not sure if I should use a fixed posting schedule (let's say a new chapter every wednesday or something like that), or if I should just update whenever I feel like it.
> 
> I'm open to suggestions.
> 
> See you soon ♥


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer!
> 
> 1\. I do not own FT, I only own my OCs and this idea.  
> 2\. English is not my native language (German is) but I'm trying my best.
> 
> This is a short but important chapter!

Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy were walking around Crocus, looking for clues on the whereabouts of the missing girls.

"Nee, Natsu, where do we even start looking?" Happy asked.

"Beats me. I thought I could smell them out but I forgot that I have no clue what they smell like."

"I could fligh up high and see if I can find them from above!" Happy suggested.

"We don't know what they look like either."

"True."

"We probably should have looked through the photos like Lucy said before we left for this mission." Natsu sighed. As usual he had left without thinking.

"We could ask Lucy, maybe she knows what they smell like!" Happy said.

"Right, she could at least tell us what they look like."

"Nee, Natsu?" Happy asked slowly.

"Mh?"

"Where _is_ Lucy? Wasn't she with us? Didn't she leave with us?"

"Oh." Natsu suddenly said, turning around. "I forgot to tell her that we're leaving. She's probably still at the place we split up?"

Natsu and Happy went back to the place where they had first split up, but Lucy was nowhere to be seen.

"She probably left to look for us." Natsu shrugged. "We'll run into her sooner or later. And if we don't I can still sniff her out." Natsu gave Happy a thumbs up, and with that they left once again to look for clues for their mission.

* * *

Lucy was still by herself, both looking for clues and for Natsu, who had run off without her as usual.

"I wish they would wait for me for once." Lucy sighed. She stopped walking to look into a dark alley. "Missing girls wouldn't be walking around in public, right? Maybe I should look into more deserted areas of the city. And with that, Lucy started walking through the dark alley. It was dark, as little to no sunlight made it past the high buildings surrounding her. As she walked she took notice of the walls to her left. There were writings in different languages and colours all over them. Some words made sense, others didn't. But to Lucy they were just scribbles. Nothing that would hold a clue for anything...

Until one word in a dark red colour caught her attention. Promise.

"Promise?" Slowly Lucy lifted her hand to touch the writing, and she suddenly yelped when another hand touched hers right before she could touch the wall.

"Ahhg- N...Natsu?!"

Natsu suddenly stood right next to her as he faced the writing on the wall with a frown on his face.

"How did you find me here?" Lucy asked.

"I didn't find _you_." Natsu replied. "I found _her_." He pointed at the "Promise" on the wall.

Lucy lifted an eyebrow, not understanding. Why would a random word on a wall written in a red colour bring Natsu here? Unless there was a smell. Lucy looked back at the word and then at Natsu.

"Promise..." Lucy mumbled. She frowned as she recalled a certain night 3 months ago.

“ _Please promise me you’ll ask for help when you need it.”_

“ _Why do you even care?”_

“ _Promise me.”_

_Hana sighed and shook her head. “I promise.”_

Lucy lifted her head so fast it made Natsu jump.

"Don't tell me that girl wrote that?"

Natsu gave her a serious look, which she wasn't used to seeing often.

"I don't know if it was her who wrote it, but it's written in her blood." _My_ blood, he almost wanted to add. He still couldn't get over the fact that her blood smelled so much like his own.

"You guys made a promise, didn't you?"

Lucy nodded. "She promised me to ask us for help if she needed it."

Natsu pointed at the writing. "I'd say she's asking for help with this. So let's go look for her!" He smiled brightly at Lucy, making her blush slightly.

"We're on a mission, Natsu. We can't just drop it and look for somebody else."

"Our mission is about finding missing girls." Natsu said. "And if you ask me, this girl is missing now, right?"

Lucy sighed. Of course she wanted to help the girl, Hana. But as she looked up she noticed Natsu was already walking away. So she knew it had been decided already.

Natsu's frown only deepend as he continued walking.

Happy suddenly came back flying out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry, Natsu. I lost him."

"Don't worry. I know his smell now. I can track him down." Natsu clenched his fists, but unclenched them quickly when he noticed Lucy following closely. He turned his head to smile at her. She didn't need to know about the dangerous looking man who had been standing right behind her as Natsu arrived. Natsu didn't like his smell, and he definitely didn't like how the man seemed to be preying on his friend. His gut told him that he was the one they were looking for, the man who was the cause of the disappearances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than intended, but I've been busy & sick & unmotivated. I'm sorry. But I'll update a few more chapters this week. ♥
> 
> Thanks for any comments & kudos. They make my day. ♥
> 
> See you soon!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! ♥
> 
> Disclaimer:
> 
> 1\. English is not my native language  
> 2\. Trigger warning for mentions of rape (not graphic)

"How do you know where they are?" Lucy asked.

She had followed Natsu and Happy through several streets and had trouble keeping up with them. Natsu was walking with a stranger determination as if he knew the way and walked it several times.

"Can you smell her?" She then asked when he didn't reply.

"Her? Ah yes, I'm following her smell." Natsu answered. She didn't need to know that he was following the strange mens smell. The girls smell was only lingering on the wall where they found her bloody note. Somewhere along the way Natsu told Happy to go and look for the others.

In the end they came to halt in front of a suspicious looking building, that seemed abandoned at first glance. The building seemed older than the ones surrounding her and the windows were sealed with wooden planks.

Lucy touched the wooden door with her hand. "I can sense strong magic power."

"Yeah." Natsu said. "I'd like to wait for the others but I don't think we have much time."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"I think this is a moving hide-out." Natsu explained.

"You mean they can change it anytime? And move to a different place?"

"Kind of like teleportation, yeah. That's probably why no one has been able to find them."

"Reminds me of the Fairy Tail of Edolas. They could move their base freely, too."

Natsu nodded in response, but he was in deep thought.

The magic power Natsu sensed was strong, but it was nothing compared to what he experienced when he fought Zeref. Normally he would just barg in, destroying the entire building (and probably most of the other buildings in this street) in the process. But because of this strange girl whose blood smelled like his he couldn't. He couldn't shake off this strange feeling that something was off about her.

"Are you looking for me?" A voice behind them asked. Natsu and Lucy turned around, and there he was, the man whose smell Natsu had been following. With a quick move Natsu pushed Lucy behind him to protect her.

"I didn't think you'd be able to find me so fast." The man smiled. He was wearing a long black coat which reached down to his ankles, the hood hid most of his face. They were only able to see his mouth. "But I don't think I can let you enter my home."

"A shabby home you got there." Natsu spat. "Lucy.." he whispered. "Try to get in somehow, I'll hold him off."

"But-" Lucy began, but when she realized the serious look in Natsu's eyes, she nodded. Natsu began fighting the stranger, and caused a lot of fire and smoke with one of his attacks, enabling Lucy to disappear behind him and enter the building through one of the windows after ripping off the wooden planks sealing it.

"What did you want with Lucy?" Natsu asked during his fight with the man. No matter how much he attacked him, his hood didn't come off and Natsu wasn't able to see his face at all. They were fighting on top of the buildings in the street now.

"She's perfect for my masters collection." He smiled, klapped his hands and suddenly formed a sword out of thin air.

_How did he do that? Is his magic similar to Erza's?_ Natsu wondered.

"Who's your master?"

"There's no need to tell you." The man replied with a smirk. "You won't be meeting him anyway."

Natsu didn't seem to cause the man any damage, no matter how much he attacked. He was being careful though, he didn't want to destroy the entire city and cause trouble for his guild when they had only just been unified again.

"Natsu!" Happy suddenly yelled. Natsu looked up to see his partner fly over to him, and then he looked down to see that Gray, Juvia, Erza and Wendy had arrived. Carla was following closely behind Wendy. But when he turned around to face the enemy again he was gone.

"Ya! Don't run off! I'm not finished beating your ass!" Natsu yelled.

"What happened, Natsu?" Erza asked. She was still eating cake.

"Erza-san, there's cake on your face." Wendy said, sweat dropping.

"What?! Where?"

Natsu didn't listen to them.

"Lucy! Are you okay in there?" He went to the window where she probably went inside.

"The door is open, dumbass." Gray said.

"Who did you just call dumbass, iceass?"

" _You're_ a dumbass, fireass!"

"Stop fighting!" Erza said sternly, causing both of them to stop immediately.

The group entered the building, which looked just as abandoned on the inside as it did on the outside. There was no furniture, and so much dust that it was hard to breathe.

Wendy sneezed.

"Lucy?" Natsu called again. He found a staircase that went downstairs and followed it, the others following closely behind.

"I'm here!" Lucy yelled, from further downstairs.

Lucy was standing in front of a steel door which seemed to be locked.

"It's locked?" Juvia asked, and Lucy nodded in response.

"Then let's open it with force!" Natsu lashed out and attacked the door with fire, but nothing happened.

"That's not working. Let's try with ice." Gray attacked the door with ice, but nothing happened.

"Then fire again!" Natsu attacked again.

"And ice!"

"Fire!"

"Ice!"

"Fire!"

"ICE!"

"FIREEE!"

This went on for 20 minutes, until both Natsu and Gray exhausted themselves and concluded that the door couldn't be opened with force.

"We could try this key.." Wendy suddenly said, holding up a key which looked like it was made of the same material as the door.

"Where.. did you get that?" Lucy asked, sweat dropping and Gray and Natsu, who were sitting on the floor pouting.

"It was lying on the floor." Wendy answered.

And sure enough the key opened the door with no troubles.

They went inside the cellar, which looked even older than the building.

"What _is_ this place?" Erza wondered. "It looks like we're in the dungeon of some medival castle."

"Maybe we are." Gray said. "Who knows where this place originally is."

"Looks like a torture chamber to me." Lucy said and shuddered. It was getting colder and colder the further they went. They were passing several empty cells, each of them holding chains and different torture devices.

They all froze when they suddenly heard a soft whimper. In the right corner of one of the cells sat a young girl, naked, bruised, and chained to the wall by a thick metal collar around her neck. They recognized her from one of the missing person posters. She was one of the girls they were looking for.

Gray freed her from her chains with his ice magic, causing the collar to crumble and fall from her neck.

"Are other girls here, too?" Erza asked her, to which the girl nodded and lifted a shaking arm to point to the floor.

"Further down?" Erza asked. The girl nodded and started crying.

Wendy stayed with the girl and healed her injuries as the rest of the group left to look for the other girls. They followed the hallway for a few minutes and reached another staircase which reached to a lower basement level.

They found the 5 other girls on the second basement floor, all of them equally chained to the wall, bruised and afraid. Apparently they had been beaten and raped repeatedly after they were kidnapped. Several different men had come to visit them, all of which were wearing long cloats and hid their faces. They also mentioned a "master" several times but none of the girls knew who this master was. It seemed like all of the men were mages as they sometimes also used magic to hurt the girls.

"So that's it?" Erza asked after they finished freeing and talking to the 6th girl.

"There's another girl.." The girl said. "They hurt her the most.. I hope she's still alive.."

"Another girl? But only 6 were reported missing." Erza said.

Natsu and Lucy exchanged a look.

"Does the 7th girl have rose coloured hair?" Lucy asked.

The others looked at her in confusion.

The girls eyes widened and she nodded.

"Where is she?" Natsu asked, sounding angry.

"Rose coloured hair? Don't tell me.." Gray began.

"The pink love rival?" Juvia asked, grabbing her beloved Gray-sama.

"I don't know.." the girl replied.

Natsu ran out of the cell and left to look into the cells they didn't look through yet.

* * *

Hana stired, causing the chains to rattle. She was chained to the wall, arms stretched out to each side, thick metal shackles encasing her arms at her wrists and upper arms. Her ankles were chained together but not connected to the wall, her head slumped forward as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Her naked body was covered in bruises, but there was not a single wound on it. Her captors cut her skin then they first took her, and she fought them with her blood magic and ended up killing two of them. The fight exhausted her, and with her last strength she wrote the word "Promise" on a random wall. Somewhere in the back of her head was this stupid hope that someone would come and save her. Someone. Anyone. Natsu...

But in the end she still couldn't get away. She was week, she lost too much blood and didn't have any proper meals since she left Lucy's home that one night. She was captured again and tortured and raped everyday. Unspeakable pain. After two weeks she stopped screaming. After 2 months she stopped crying. She thought she was going to die in her cell. She felt like she was going to be ripped apart by one of these men. The shackles sealed her magic, and they made sure not to draw any blood. And without blood she was as useless and weak as any other girl.

She heard voices and stired again. Were they back? Would the pain start again? She didn't know how much more of this she could take. She just wanted to leave and go back to where she came from. She just wanted to go home, no matter how painful that was. She just wanted to see her parents.. her father..

The door to her cell opened and she lifted her head slowly. She recognized the person she was looking at and tears formed in her eyes. She wanted to see him so badly, and here he was.

* * *

Natsu ran over to the girl, shocked at the bad shape she was in. She looked much worse than all of the other girls combined did.

"You're safe now. It's okay." He said, as he ripped off the chains holding her to the wall. Hana dropped straight into his arms, her legs not supporting her weight. Tears fell from her eyes and she started sobbing.

"Did you find her? Oh my god.." Lucy said, eyes wide and hands covering her mouth. Then she also ran over to the girl. Carefully they laid her onto the ground and Natsu covered her with his vest.

Hana could feel herself drifting away again. She just wanted to see her parents. And with that she closed her eyes and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... how did you like it?  
> I'm always unsure about my writing when I write in English. I still have to google a lot of words & even then I'm unsure of how it sounds.  
> But still.. I want to write in English.
> 
> Up until this chapter it was all kind of like a prolog.. I didn't want my OC to just randomly pop up saying "Hi, let me join Fairy Tail!" - I wanted her to take her time, I wanted to make sure that it makes a bit more sense that she joins. Well she didn't join yet but we're getting there. We're also getting closer to revealing who she is. :)
> 
> Thank you for the kudos!   
> See you soon! ♥


End file.
